They believe, I doubt not, what they say at the moment; but their words mean very little.

In a sense they believed, or did not disbelieve, the slanderous accusations which filled the pages of _United Ireland_.

In a sense they now believe that the Home Rule Bill is a satisfactory compromise.

But the belief in each case must be considered essentially superficial.

Men are the victims of their own career: it is absolutely impossible that leaders many of whom have indulged in virulence, in slanders, in cruelty, in oppression, should be suddenly credited with strict truthfulness, with sobriety, with respect for the rights of others.